From 7 years (1966--1973) of riometer data from the south pole (74.2¿ invariant latitude), 43 sudden commencements of magnetic storms were examined for sudden commencement absorption (sca) events and the possible influence of the lower cleft boundary latitude on electron precipitation at that site. For 17 of the events, interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) data are available to predict the position of the lower cleft boundary. Three of the sea events at the south pole occurred during IMF conditions when the predicted cleft bounday, including the effect of magnetic activity (AE), was equatorward of that site by 2¿-4¿. The observation of sudden commencement electron precipitation at the south pole at these times indicates that the cleft region involves closed field lines.